Endometrial cancer (EC) derived G3BP1 overexpression and mutant promote EC tumorigenesis and metastasis via SPOP/ERα axis

BACKGROUND: Ras-GTPase-activating protein binding protein 1 (G3BP1) is an oncogenic factor, which highly expressed in a variety of cancers. In recent years, G3BP1 has been reported to promote the development of prostate cancer by inhibiting the degradation of AR through inhibiting SPOP. However, whether G3BP1 contributes in a similar manner to the abnormal accumulation of ERα, which is also an important target for hormone therapy, remains unknown. This article addresses this issue and explores potential mechanisms. METHODS: Bioinformatics tools were used for G3BP1 expression analysis, survival analysis, and clinical association analysis. Immunohistochemical staining was used to examine the correlation between G3BP1 and ERα in EC patients. In addition, western blot and co-immunoprecipitation were used to detect the half-life of G3BP1 and mutant, and the effect of G3BP1 and mutant on the ubiquitination and degradation of ERα mediated by SPOP. Then, the oncogenic functions of G3BP1 dependent on the SPOP/ERα axis were determined by CCK8 cell proliferation assay, colony formation assay and cell migration assay. Finally, we established the EC cells treated or untreated with fulvestrant, exploring the possibility of fulvestrant combined with the reduction of G3BP1 to improve the efficacy of fulvestrant. RESULTS: G3BP1 is abnormally high expressed and characterized by high-frequency mutation in EC. In addition, there is a positive correlation between G3BP1 protein and ERα protein. Mechanistically, both G3BP1 and mutant, the latter is displaying the longer half-life, competitively bind SPOP with ERα, thereby inhibiting SPOP-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of ERα. Functionally, G3BP1 and mutant promote the proliferation and migration of EC cells by regulating the G3BP1/SPOP/ERα axis. However, fulvestrant can reverse the cancer-promoting effects of G3BP1 and mutant. CONCLUSIONS: G3BP1 and its mutant positively regulate ERα signaling pathway by inhibiting SPOP-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of ERα, indicating the promising effect of fulvestrant on the suppression the occurrence and development of EC with high expressed G3BP1 and G3BP1 mutants. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12964-023-01342-7.